"He's dying?", the blind man softly chimed in. Yusuf knelt beside Grischa at the bedside and held his hand while listening to Cale's narration.

Cale had told him everything. About the day of the attack, about Grischa's and Aaron's appearance, their discoveries and their suspicions. Yusuf now also knew why Aaron was in Winstest and why there were 5 High-Magicians in the creature plains. But most of all, he now understood why Grischa had left his job and why the High-Magician had not been seen for weeks. In fact, Yusuf had known for a while that Grischa was staying with Cale, but he had never found the opportunity to ask what was going on.

"Yes, the Kormandent's mark is constantly stealing Grischa's mana. When his cycle breaks down, he ends up like the Soulless who lost their Igrikum."

"And now you want me to go with you to the creature plain to search for Grischa's mana?", Yusuf gave with a slightly angry undertone. As the mages had suspected, the teacher could tell people's mana apart. So if the creature really stored Grischa's mana, he should be able to find it.

Theoretically, at least.

"That's what we're asking you to do, yes. We currently have no other idea to find the creature. It should be enough if you can tell us roughly where it is. High-Magician Luc Darves will use his Igrikum to catch the creature's shadow, so we can find it more easily if it takes off."

"However, that would mean that the creature would not attack us, but would flee. What if it doesn't and it spots us before I spot it? If it marks me with that thing, then I won't be able to see once and for all. Do you realize that? I could lose my eyes and not be able to work in the Magistrat anymore! Or worse, we might just die."

At the statement, the two High-Magicians looked down at the ground, caught, only the Elder continued to look at Yusuf.

"I know we're asking you to do quite a bit", Cale quietly admitted. "I don't want to put the others or you in unnecessary danger. But if we do nothing, Grischa will not survive this month."

Silence enveloped the room. Cale looked down at his hands, which he clasped together in front of his chest as if he were praying. If Grischa died now, the Elder would have no successor and in his own Cale would have difficulty developing the flight crystal. But mostly out of personal interest, Cale wanted to protect his friend. He could not say that he did not care if Yusuf died. His only thought was to keep Grischa and his friends alive, as well as the other people who would later emerge as the hub and hope of all people.

"Let me sleep about it for a night", he finally spoke up and straightened up. Cale looked at the blind man, who seemed to be looking him straight in the eye, and breathed a sigh of relief. Grischa was also a good friend of Yusuf, even though their relationship was more like a love-hate relationship. Through Cale, the two had gotten to know each other better back then and had also worked together on many occasions, even though Grischa always avoided the latter. Yusuf was the type of person who didn't care much about the opinion of others and therefore always had an extremely easy-going manner. Sometimes even Cale couldn't tell if the mage was joking with him or actually doing something for serious reasons. But today was different. Yusuf had been very serious from the start, which was probably because he could see and sense Grischa's condition.

"All right. Thanks for thinking about it", the 12th seat replied, smiling for a brief moment and then glancing at Nora, who was standing next to him, silently watching the proceedings. After the statement, the two said goodbye to him, only the Eldest remained standing in the doorway for a moment.

"I would like to continue our conversation tomorrow. If we put all the secrets aside, we can probably help each other a lot", the blond-haired man gave voice.

"You know where to find me, Eldest", Cale replied politely and then bowed to the man, who watched him do so for a moment and then distanced himself from the apartment as well.

After closing the door behind him, Cale leaned against it, exhaled deeply and looked out the window. The clear night sky stretched before him as fear spread through Cale. He didn't want to witness another friend die before his eyes. With each passing moment, Cale could feel himself losing a bit more hope. Not knowing how long this time loop would repeat itself, he tried his best to reach a peaceful future. But the last weeks had revealed a lot of new things. The unknown creature, the elder's Igrikum, the story of the apostles and their long life. Basil Kama and Theorik. What else would await him? Would he succeed this time, or would he die again and have to experience it all over again? Was there even a possibility for Cale to live a normal life? Maybe on the coast of Sylve, in a small library? With his beloved tea and heavenly food from Henry?

His eyes fixed on a bright shining star, while he couldn't help thinking of William. He had to think of the dragon queen and also the dragon from his vision. They were definitely different creatures, but their aura was very much the same. It was said that the Dragon Queen was the first creature on earth, which is why she was so powerful. But if that was true, who was the other dragon? An alternate version of the Dragon Queen probably wasn't the case. And why didn't Cale seem to have a problem standing next to this creature in his insight? Why was he even up in the mountains of Sylve, where the dragons also nested in the present time? Why was he resurrected? The Eldest or Grischa would have been much better targets, why him? The Eldest was right: what had he done in his first life to get this ability?

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Annoyed, Cale pushed away from the door and headed toward the study.

"What exactly do the gods want from me?", Cale stated aloud as he came to a halt in front of his desk and kicked the wood with his foot.

In despair, he dropped into the chair, propped himself up on the table with both hands, and stared at the documents scattered across his desk. His work area was also messy, but not as bad as his bedroom this morning.

He let out a loud sigh and closed his eyes. What had he missed? He wouldn't have realized that he had ever acted abnormally. What was different about him that he had been chosen? And what was different about Grischa that he had been chosen by the Kormandent? Or was he just too slow? Was it the Kormandent's who were conquering the land on behalf of the dragons? What had the Kormandent's done in his other lives after they took Altona?

Suddenly, Cale could feel Grischa straighten up and opened his eyes. With a jerk, he disengaged himself from the table and ran up the stairs. Arriving in the bedroom, he stared at the High-Magician in relief. Every day when his friend slept this late, Cale was secretly afraid that he would never wake up. Slowly, he walked toward the man, who looked up from under his long, white mane.

"Grischa?", Cale admitted in wonder. His look was different today. Usually his eyes were fixed and he didn't react when people spoke to him. But today this was not the case. His green eyes were clear and he seemed to realize that Cale was standing in front of him. "Are you... awake?"

Grischa didn't answer, but looked down at his frozen hands before looking to the crystal to his right.

"What happened?", he replied in a raspy voice, instantly grabbing his neck before swallowing a few times. Joy spread through Cale. The last time Cale had really been awake was just over a week ago.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Quietly, Cale walked over to his friend and took a seat on the bed in front of him, which is why Grischa looked up at him. Without saying anything, Cale brushed his long hair out of his face and ran his warm hand down the icy skin until it caught on his neck. His pulse was slow, yet steady, which inevitably reassured Cale.

"You told me about your family, I must have fallen asleep, right?"

Indeed, as Cale had feared. He didn't remember the conversation taking place a week ago and how he lived as a shadow of himself on the other days. It was as they told it: Grischa find on being unable to grasp reality.

"Good, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten. You've been asleep for quite a while", Cale explained. He hid from his friend what had happened in the meantime. He seemed to understand what was going on with his body, but he couldn't remember what had happened on those days. It was as if someone was locking out Grischa's consciousness.

"All day?"

Cale just nodded in agreement before diverting from the subject.

"How about you take a bath first? The ice is getting ready to wear off again", Cale calmly volunteered, casting a quick glance at the frosty formation on Grischa's arms. "I'll make us something to eat in the meantime. I know you're not hungry, but your body needs nutrients."

"You really sound like you're my mother."

"Do you want me to take on a female form?"

"Please don't!", Grischa exclaimed quickly, but Cale smiled weakly. How would he even be able to live without Grischa? How had he managed all these decades without his friends? Without William, without Ben, without Aletta and without Philippa? How could he actually make it through years without their presence?

"Come on", Cale replied, straightening up. "Can you stand up, or do you want your mother to carry you?"

"When you put it that way, it really scares me", Grischa threw back, pulling the blanket aside before placing his feet on the floor and noting with amazement that they were turning blue. "Where have you been, anyway? Did I interrupt your work?"

"I was just reading something", Cale replied with a smile, extending his hand to Grischa. By now, Grischa no longer seemed to him like an ice princess, but rather like an old man who could no longer control his body. If Grischa knew what his body had been allowed to go through in the last few days... he would really feel ashamed.

"Why do I feel like you're lying to me right now?"

"Because I was only half reading and was actually more in my thoughts."

"Well, that sounds more like you", Grischa interjected, straightening up with difficulty. Out of reflex, he reached for the bookshelf to gain stability, knocking a few books to the floor in the process, and stepped aside in surprise. "Damn. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

Grischa was about to bend down when Cale stopped him with a wave of his hand and lifted the books aside.

"It's okay, it can happen to anyone", Cale replied, placing the books on the bed before looking up at Grischa and noticing his depressed expression. Delayed, that expression turned to a smile, but Cale was clearly more pained by that reaction. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Pretending that everything is fine. Let it go, okay? We both know what it really looks like."

"Do we?" interjected Grischa reproachfully. "My legs and arms feel so numb I can barely move them. That's what it looks like."

"I know", Cale replied, reaching out to him again. "I know you and I know you don't like to cause others worry, Grin. It's just that it's too late for that, so don't make that pathetic attempt to pretend you can handle the situation. If you want me to do something, please say so. Regardless of how uncomfortable it makes you."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be fine."

"What do you want me to do that will make you trust me?"

"This has nothing to do with trust. I trust you, Caleb, but you really don't need to be by my side all the time, playing my protector."

"To me, it has quite a bit to do with trust", Cale replied, taking a step backward as Grischa cautiously started to move. "Because to me, it looks like you don't care that I care about you. From my perspective, it's like you're trying to tell me you don't trust me enough to honestly ask for help."

"You know that's not true", Grischa interjected in shock.

"Do I know that, or do you think I know that because I'm trying to give you your space despite the situation?" retorted Cale, causing Grischa to come to a halt and look up at him. "Is it that hard for you to ask me for help?"

"Says the very man who has never asked anyone for help his whole life."

"But I've done it now, haven't I? What about you? Can you take the step?"